1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for shearing the hooves from a meat carcass, and more particularly to an automatic shear which positions a shearing blade relative to the hooves on a carcass moving along on an overhead carcass rail and then actuates the shearing mechanism, all without operator intervention.
2. Description of Related Act
In a meat packing facility, animal carcasses are suspended from their hind legs on hooks carried in trolleys which roll along an overhead carcass rail. The trolleys are continuously driven along the carcass rail to move the carcasses through the facility from one processing station to another. One step in the processing requires the removal of the front hooves from the suspended carcass.
At the present time, hoof removal is accomplished with a hock cutter such as the Model 30 CL or Model 500 HC hock cutters sold by Jarvis Products Corporation of Middletown, Conn. Although such devices are provided with hydraulic power to operate the shears and counterbalancing mechanisms to reduce the effort required to manipulate them into position, nonetheless, they are essentially hand operated tools which must be properly positioned and triggered by a trained operator.
By the nature of such tools, they present an amputation hazard, particularly when the operator is tired. An automatic tool significantly reduces this risk. Moreover, with present handheld units it is difficult to obtain consistent cuts when the line moves rapidly. This difficulty is increased with a handheld tool over the automatic tool disclosed herein, because in the handheld tool, each leg must be cut individually, whereas in an automatic cutter it is possible to cut both hooves simultaneously.
Earlier attempts to incorporate the design of conventional handheld hock cutters into an automatic machine were not successful, primarily due to the difficulty in properly positioning the cutters relative to the hooves. The hooves had to be guided into the small jaw openings in the prior art handheld hock cutters, which proved to be very difficult and expensive to accomplish reliably.
A further reason for the lack of success was that occasionally the hock cutter would fail to completely sever the hoof from the carcass, due to the presence of a tendon or a nerve fiber which was not severed when the blades become dull. With a hand actuated cutter, the tool can be actuated a second time to complete the cut, however, where the cutter is automatic, when the cut failed, the force exerted by the carcass as it was pulled along by the overhead carcass rail was sufficient to damage or even completely dislodge the cutting machine.
A principal object of the invention is to provide a hoof shearing machine that is automated.
Another object of the invention is to provide a design in which both hooves are severed simultaneously.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a hoof shearing machine with a pass-through cutting region which is open at both ends to permit the carcass to move through the machine, even if the cut fails, without disrupting the cutting operation for the next carcass.
A further object of the invention is to provide a machine which seldom fails to fully remove the hooves because it first shears the hooves, and then exerts a pulling force to completely separate the hooves from the carcass.
Another object of the invention is to provide a design with safety interlocks such that the machine will only operate when a carcass is actually in position.